SPEECHLESS: Yani Tseng of Taiwan, the McDonald's LPGA Championship winner this month, was asked how she learned to speak English so well.
"I talk a lot," she said.
Tseng, though, was speechless at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines two weeks ago while she helped out NBC analyst Dottie Pepper. She was in awe of the power Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott, but she really took interest in Scott, a heart throb for so many teenagers. Tseng finally met him after the round.
"He was a great-looking guy," she said. "And when I saw him, I almost pass out. I was so nervous talking to him. I couldn't speak."
NOT YET READY TO AGE: The popularity of the women's game is growing, but United States Golf Association executive director David Fay said it's still too soon for a U.S. Senior Women's Open to match the men. Finding the right amount of prize money and a willing TV network to broadcast such an event would be the first hurdle to clear, Fay said. The LPGA Tour also would have to be on board.
So for now, no plans.
"That's been a question that's been asked probably about 10 years," Fay said. "And I'm sorry it sounds like a Groundhog Day answer, but our position remains the same. We're just not ready to do something like that yet."
TO THE ISLAND: The USGA has selected Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., as the site of the 2013 U.S. Women's Open. The course, which opened in 2006 with a design by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak, is nestled against Great Peconic Bay on Long Island. It features rolling fairways, big bunkers and dunes, and undulating, challenging greens. Several holes have a striking view of the water, and others are surrounded by inland forest.
The U.S. Women's Open hasn't been held in the state of New York since 1973, when it went to The Country Club of Rochester.
GOLFING WITH GULBIS: Natalie Gulbis has been long known for good looks and a high off-the-course profile, and she was predictably tabbed in a recent poll at Golf.com asking readers which LPGA Tour player they'd most like to golf with.
Well, one lucky guy or girl will get that chance.
Gulbis is promoting a contest with accounting firm RSM McGladrey that asks entrants to write an essay describing a person who has influenced their success in life. The winner will join Gulbis in Las Vegas for a morning workout, nine holes in the afternoon and a celebratory dinner.
Gulbis named her father, John, as the man behind her success. He worked an overnight shift as a juvenile probation officer in Sacramento, Calif., and used to take his only child to the course for practice as soon as he finished in the morning.
